SAN DIEGO – It still burns at John Lynch that he never got to play at Qualcomm Stadium back when it was called Jack Murphy Stadium. His Torrey Pines High School team in nearby Del Mar was unable to win the California Interscholastic Federation title and thus was denied a shot on the big stage.

“At 31 years old it still eats at me,” Lynch admitted.

After a brief pause, Lynch brightened and added: “But now I’ll have a chance to play for a world championship in Qualcomm Stadium and I’m looking very forward to it.”

Lynch is back in his hometown and last night got to play against the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, in the stadium where he sat and watched the Chargers during his youth. The Buccaneers made it this far for the first time in franchise history and Lynch, the four-time Pro Bowl strong safety – whose very name brings a case of the jitters to opposing receivers – is perhaps the most grateful Tampa Bay player of all.

“I came here and watched the Raiders . . . I hated the Raiders,” Lynch said. “There wasn’t much defense being played back then. I hate it now but I loved it then.”

This is the 10th season Lynch has donned the uniform of the Bucs, a uniform that now is red and pewter but used to be light orange and usually a source of derision back in the bad old days. “A franchise,” Lynch explained, “that was regarded as the laughingstock of the league.”

No one is laughing now, other than Lynch, who had a smile on his face from the moment he stepped off the plane from Tampa and landed back home. It sure appeared as if Lynch was euphoric about preparing for the game that has eluded him for so long. In many ways, Lynch is Mr. Buccaneer. No one on the team has been in Tampa longer than Lynch, who came on the scene in 1993 and knows the struggles of this franchise better than anyone of his teammates.

As the last line of defense at strong safety, Lynch is very much a part of the formidable defensive legacy cultivated by the Buccaneers. His jarring hits are the stuff of legend. His intensity is unmatched. His dependability is unparalleled. Moments after the Bucs knocked off the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, Warren Sapp immediately headed for Lynch and engulfed him in an emotional bear-hug.

When all that Raider talent poured out onto the field, when Jerry Rice and Tim Brown started prancing around, Lynch undoubtedly was there to declare his own territory. Enter if you dare.

“He’s like Jekyll and Hyde,” defensive end Greg Spires said. “He’s the nicest guy you want to meet off the field but when he gets on the field he’ll knock your head off.”

Lynch was born for this. This California kid was a star pitcher with a blazing 95-mph fastball who not only was a second-round pick of the Florida Marlins, but who also threw the first pitch in Marlins history. He was a two-sport star at Stanford and a starter for the Bucs by his third season. His new head coach, Jon Gruden, says he expects Lynch, along with Sapp and linebacker Derrick Brooks, to one day all be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“I think what we’ve done as a defense over a long period of time warrants that,” Lynch said. “That kind of history will write itself, although this game can go a long way in helping us all get there.”

What a victory in the Super Bowl cannot do is soothe every regret.

“I still would have liked that high school championship,” Lynch confessed, “but this would not be a bad consolation prize at all.”